University of Central Florida
05/12/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/12/2026 10:46
UCF Scientist Sends Blood Clotting Research to Space
Highlights
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Hansjorg Schwertz is leading the NASA-funded Megakaryocytes Orbiting in Outer Space and Near Earth (MOON) study, which examines how space flight affects the development and function of megakaryocytes - bone marrow cells - as they create platelets.
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Pre- and post-mission medical testing of astronauts on the International Space Station has shown that spaceflight changes their immune system and blood clotting ability. A few astronauts have even developed blood clots during a flight or after returning.
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Schwertz hopes his study will unlock technologies and therapies to keep astronauts' blood clotting mechanisms controlled, prevent abnormal clotting and bring those discoveries back to Earth.
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Hansjorg Schwertz recently signed on as the associate director for Translational Aerospace Medicine Research at the UCF Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (CASEEM).
When NASA launches its latest voyage to the International Space Station on May 12, it will carry a blood clotting experiment from the UCF College of Medicine's newest faculty member. The research will include illuminated bone marrow cells floating in space to find better ways to keep astronauts and Earthlings healthier.
Hansjorg Schwertz specializes in occupational health and focuses his research on how microgravity and radiation in space impact the body's blood-clotting functions. After an extensive career overseas and at the University of Utah, he comes to UCF to serve as the associate director for Translational Aerospace Medicine Research at the UCF Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (CASEEM).
As humans prepare for longer missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, the center is exploring how factors such as microgravity, radiation and isolation impact the human body in space and how that knowledge can drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention for patients on Earth.
"When it comes to putting footprints on the moon, there is no better place to be than UCF," he says.
Hansjorg Schwertz specializes in occupational health and focuses his research on how microgravity and radiation in space impact the body's blood-clotting functions.NASA Concerned About Blood Clots in Space
Pre- and post-mission medical testing of astronauts on the International Space Station has shown that spaceflight changes their immune system and blood clotting ability. A few astronauts have even developed blood clots during a flight or after returning. For that reason, Schwertz is leading the NASA-funded Megakaryocytes Orbiting in Outer Space and Near Earth (MOON) study, which he began working on at the University of Utah and continues to collaborate with the university's researchers on.
"When it comes to putting footprints on the moon, there is no better place to be than UCF." - Hansjorg Schwertz
Megakaryocytes are bone marrow cells that create platelets, which circulate in the blood stream and can stop bleeding or form blood clots. Both cells also play a key role in immune responses.
The MOON study is examining how space flight affects the development and function of megakaryocytes as they create platelets. The results could provide important knowledge about the risks of inflammation, immune responses and blood clot formation that will help space travelers and patients on Earth, Schwertz says.
His team is sending human cells to the ISS on board the SpaceX 34 resupply mission. Once they are aboard the space station, astronauts will culture the cells and help to develop megakaryocytes in space.
One part of the experiment is to watch the cells in real time, and how they develop their "daughter cell," the platelets. Because the research will be in microgravity, the cells will float. They'll be stained with fluorescent dye so UCF's researcher can examine them remotely at better accuracy.
Schwertz says mentors taught him, "seeing is believing," so he is "genuinely excited" to see megakaryocytes float in space.
Advancing Personalized Medicine
One of the challenges of space medicine research is that so few people have gone to space, so the sample pool is small. As space travel and colonization progress, more people will be traveling to and working on the moon and beyond.
Healthwise, many will be different than astronauts who are selected after going through vigorous testing and selection criteria. Thus, space is a new frontier of healthcare.
Schwertz hopes his study will unlock technologies and therapies to keep astronauts' blood clotting mechanisms controlled, prevent abnormal clotting and bring those discoveries back to Earth.
"We're examining the impact of space flight on each person's cells," he says. "This is personalized medicine, and isn't that what healthcare is all about?"
Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chair for Aerospace Medicine at the UCF College of Medicine and founding director of CASEEM, Schwertz's work reflects the program's broader mission to connect spaceflight research with practical clinical and operational solutions.
"Our aerospace medicine program is intentionally designed to be operational and translational in nature," Urquieta says. "We are building a program that can support the real medical needs of exploration missions while rapidly translating discoveries from spaceflight and extreme environments into innovations that improve health here on Earth."
Schwertz received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the School of Medicine at the University of Mainz, Germany. After a residency in Internal Medicine/Cardiology at the University of Halle, Germany, he did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Utah, where he also served as faculty.
In 2012, he was awarded a prestigious Lichtenberg-Professorship for Experimental Hemostasis and returned to Germany where he directed a research laboratory. He returned to Utah in 2015, where he completed his residency training in Occupational Medicine and was a faculty member, researcher and community physician.
The material is based upon work supported by NASA under award No. 80NSSC22K0255. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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